On Monday, Nov. 19, more than 130 attendees gathered at the Humphrey Scottish Rite Masonic Center in Milwaukee, WI to hear a panel of young African-American males speak about their academic and personal experiences.

“In addition to being a platform to discuss the research findings of Breaking Barriers 3: Changing the Status Quo, this panel was designed to give community members the opportunity to hear first-hand, from school aged African-American males, their thoughts on how well our educational system is serving their needs,” said Dr. Ivory A. Toldson, Senior Research Analyst, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

Representative Gwen Moore (WI-04) and Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Gregory Thornton gave opening remarks, followed by a short presentation by Dr. Toldson to “dispel myths” and provide statistical facts about black males.

Tommy C. Walls, Jr., junior at Marquette University; Asa K. Fludd, senior at Francis Marion University; Demarius Jury, senior at Messmer High School; Darious Scott, junior at Vincent High School; and Jeremy Triblett, education and training coordinator for Urban Underground’s college, career and life-skill programs took part in the panel discussion. Each panelist was asked to answer a series of questions about their experiences with the public school system, peer pressure, family routines and community activities.

The program concluded with a spoken word piece by local poet Kwabena Antoine Nixon.